'Chicken rice' soba in the CBD with so much meat 'it's like free'

Get Out!! is a bi-weekly video series where our hosts go out and discover new things around Singapore.

This week, Le En brings Marcus for some healthy Japanese soba with unexpected local flavours! Laksa soba anyone?

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Singaporeans love our local delights — chicken rice and laksa probably chief among them. But what if we told you could find those flavours right here in a Japanese restaurant?

On this week's episode of Get Out!!, our hosts Le En and Marcus took a walk around the CBD in search of laksa made with Japanese soba, and one version that tastes just like our very own chicken rice!

At Healthy Soba IKI, our humble hawker dishes are transformed into fusion cuisine, but the restaurant also offers a wide variety of traditional soba bowls as well, served both hot and cold.

The hand-made Japanese buckwheat noodles are said to be healthier than other types of noodles as it's gluten-free and higher in protein.

Healthy Soba IKI was started by Chef Yusuke Noguchi, who said that he was surprised that when he first came to Singapore years ago, he saw lots of ramen shops, but hardly any restaurants serving soba.

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“I also wanted to expand soba culture, because soba is one of the traditional foods in Japan,” said Chef Yusuke.

And he chose the location because he knows that “CBD people like healthy food”.

Did you know that buckwheat seed (from which soba is made) has three layers?

“But we only use the centre portion,” he said, which is white in colour. And the flour made from this white flour is called “ichiban”, or “number one”.

This is what makes the soba have a slightly chewy and "very nice" texture, Chef Yusuke added.

The Collagen Chicken Soba ($14) contains cucumber and ginger and is generously topped with chicken meat, while the Laksa Soba ($13) is not only just as flavourful as the real deal, but "tastes healthy" as well. 

Watch the video above to find out which soba bowls are Le En and Marcus' favourites!

Where: Healthy Soba IKI
Address: One Raffles Place Shopping Mall, #04-47
Tel: 6438 6022

candicecai@asiaone.com